Dr Sadhu Gupta is a well sought over consultant ophthalmic surgeon working most of his professional life at Inverclyde Royal Hospital, Greenock. Dr Gupta officially retired in March 2008, but has continued to work part-time, and is still committed to doing as many eye camps as possible.

Dr Sadhu Gupta was born on the 15th June 1944 in Delhi, India from a poverty-stricken background. He became the first of his family to go to university, often using street light in parks to study. This background has never been forgotten and has shaped Sadhu into a person always striving to help those most in need.

In 1973, Dr Gupta left India to gain some specialist training experience in Belfast. A few years later, having gained his fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons, he was offered a consultant post.

In 1981, Dr Gupta accepted a Consultant’s post in Inverclyde Royal Infirmary, Greenock. The following year he recognised the real need to obtain laser equipment for the Eye Department at Inverclyde Royal, as patients were forced to travel to Glasgow for treatment. There was nothing available from the hospital’s budget so he set about finding the money himself. This was the start of a lasting commitment to raising funds for important causes. Dr Gupta spent much of his spare time giving talks about the hospital’s needs to anyone who would listen; he raised over £40,000 to buy a variety of other ophthalmic equipment at Inverclyde Royal, helping to transform it into a state of the art facility.

In 1994 he discovered that a surgeon from Paisley was leading a team of surgeons to an eye camp in Bangladesh. This was a major turning point in his life, as he’d been searching for a way to help those who couldn’t afford to pay for treatment which would restore their sight. By the time he’d returned to Greenock he knew in his heart he’d found the cause he’d been looking for. He vowed to establish another eye camp, this time with his own hand-picked team.

Along with colleagues and friends he launched a series of fund-raising initiatives, which included ceilidhs and curry nights. Churches and community groups from the Inverclyde and surrounding area also rallied round, as did many of his grateful patients. Proceeds from the fund raising activities helped Sadhu carry out 15 such missions in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar and Ethiopia, giving sight to several thousand people and leaving a legacy behind by teaching the local doctors his skills and techniques.

Sadhu’s charitable endeavours have been recognised by Rotary International with World Community Service Awards and a Paul Harris Fellowship Sapphire Award Now coming up to the age of 72, he will once again lead a team to India in May 2016  to carry out his final mission.